Colombia's James Rodriguez sets a new bar for embarrassing soccer dives

Colombia faced South Korea Friday in an International Friendly at the Suwon World Cup Stadium, and Bayern Munich superstar James Rodriguez was involved in a bizarre scuffle that led to a spectacularly obvious dive in the second half.

[Update]: Colombia’s Edwin Cardona was also spotted making a racist gesture during the fracas, and could be facing disciplinary action.

Rodriguez clipped fullback Kim Jin-su as he was jumping to head a ball, and when Rodriguez saw that Kim was still on the ground moments after the referee blew his whistle, Rodriguez proceeded to pull Kim off the pitch by his jersey.

South Korea’s Ki Sung-yeung walked over to back up his teammate, but when Ki put his hand on Rodriguez’s shoulder, Rodriguez reacted by dropping to the ground as if hit by a sniper and covering his face with his hands.

Kim took a swipe at Rodriguez’s chest, but clearly missed his face, while Rodriguez was clearly trying to capitalize on whatever contact he could sense. All this in an international friendly!

The referee took no action after warning Ki and Rodriguez, and South Korea went on to win 2-1 thanks to a brace from Son Heung-min.

[Update]: During the commotion, Colombia’s Edwin Cardona made a racist gesture directed toward South Korean players. According to Yonhap News Agency, the Korea Football Association will request a request a disciplinary measure.

“I thought the Colombians played a physical, rough game today, but it can happen in football,” Ki Sung-Yeung said. “But racist behavior is absolutely unacceptable. Colombia have world-class players, and I was extremely disappointed to see such action.”

Cardona apologized for making the gesture in a video posted to Twitter, and claimed that the action was “misinterpreted.”

Colombia's James Rodriguez sets a new bar for embarrassing soccer dives

James Rodriguez delivers one of the worst dives of all time.

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